End of Life Vol. 1

Illustrated by Steve Pugh
Paperback
$17.99 US
On sale Oct 13, 2026 | 176 Pages | 9781799506201

How do you survive when the entire world is out to get you and everything is bad? Kyle Starks and Steve Pugh, the acclaimed team behind Peacemaker Tries Hard!, reunite for this darkly funny story of a man-child assassin with some very grown-up problems.

Professional hitman Eddie Stallion has messed up. He’s accidentally robbed a high-ranking boss of the international cabal of assassins The Menagerie, of which Eddie is a member. Or he was.

Now he’s got a massive price on his head, and every Menagerie killer on Earth is looking to cash in. So Eddie chooses to look for safe harbor in the small midwestern town of Pluto—and instead finds his resentful father dying of cancer who has promised to kill him at some point, old friends looking to collect that bounty, Menagerie assassins who have wandered into town, and a local crime lord who is—wait, is this right?—a cancelled newspaper comic-strip creator who’s turned to crime? All of this plays out in a town full of weirdos that stupid Eddie can’t stand—and oh yeah, his childhood first love is there, too.

Kyle Starks and Steve Pugh present the story of a hitman in trouble, one of the launch titles of DC's revived Vertigo imprint. This collection includes the first arc of the ongoing series, End of Life #1-6.
Kyle Starks is an Eisner-nominated writer and cartoonist known for sharp, character-driven action-comedies including Peacemaker Tries Hard!, I Hate This Place, Sexcastle, Lobo, and multiple arcs of Rick and Morty. His work blends breakneck pacing, emotional clarity, and laugh-out-loud dialogue, making him one of comics’ most versatile voices in modern genre storytelling.

Steve Pugh is a British Comics Award–winning artist celebrated for acclaimed work on Animal Man, Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass, The Flintstones, Hotwire, and Hellblazer. Known for expressive character acting, dynamic composition, and bold visual storytelling, Pugh brings both emotional depth and cinematic energy to every project.

About

How do you survive when the entire world is out to get you and everything is bad? Kyle Starks and Steve Pugh, the acclaimed team behind Peacemaker Tries Hard!, reunite for this darkly funny story of a man-child assassin with some very grown-up problems.

Professional hitman Eddie Stallion has messed up. He’s accidentally robbed a high-ranking boss of the international cabal of assassins The Menagerie, of which Eddie is a member. Or he was.

Now he’s got a massive price on his head, and every Menagerie killer on Earth is looking to cash in. So Eddie chooses to look for safe harbor in the small midwestern town of Pluto—and instead finds his resentful father dying of cancer who has promised to kill him at some point, old friends looking to collect that bounty, Menagerie assassins who have wandered into town, and a local crime lord who is—wait, is this right?—a cancelled newspaper comic-strip creator who’s turned to crime? All of this plays out in a town full of weirdos that stupid Eddie can’t stand—and oh yeah, his childhood first love is there, too.

Kyle Starks and Steve Pugh present the story of a hitman in trouble, one of the launch titles of DC's revived Vertigo imprint. This collection includes the first arc of the ongoing series, End of Life #1-6.

Author

Kyle Starks is an Eisner-nominated writer and cartoonist known for sharp, character-driven action-comedies including Peacemaker Tries Hard!, I Hate This Place, Sexcastle, Lobo, and multiple arcs of Rick and Morty. His work blends breakneck pacing, emotional clarity, and laugh-out-loud dialogue, making him one of comics’ most versatile voices in modern genre storytelling.

Steve Pugh is a British Comics Award–winning artist celebrated for acclaimed work on Animal Man, Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass, The Flintstones, Hotwire, and Hellblazer. Known for expressive character acting, dynamic composition, and bold visual storytelling, Pugh brings both emotional depth and cinematic energy to every project.